Warmth
by TigerStripe is Numbuh 6.13
Summary: Chocolate brown eyes fluttered open to meet a pair of handsome emerald green ones. Ashley felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and she knew she must have put a tomato to shame somewhere. Ashley/David or 0.2/0.3, implied Lenny/Ogie or 0.4/0.5


******To everyoneish, I'm sorry for lack of updates in everything. My time on the computer is getting limited because I'm starting high school soon in one of the most prestigious schools in the capital of my country. (I didn't even WANT to go to that school because I wanted to stay with my friends, but they say the Nihongo classes there are awesome :D) I might update a few stories, but that might not happen if I've got loads of homework. So please don't make me feel guilty that I'm leaving you all guys hanging on some stories. T.T  
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**As compensation, I will now let you read this heckloaded fanfiction about Numbuh 0.2 and Numbuh 0.3. Cheers.  
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* * *

**3****rd**** Person POV**

They _definitely _picked the worst time to go hunting for Ice Queen.

Numbuh 0.2 – otherwise known as David to the adults - shivered, the harsh winter wind slapping his face. His beret clung precariously to his head, the only thing stopping it from flying the boy's hand. His brown hair flew as he pressed on, his boots stomping in the snow.

In front of him, Numbuh 0.1 – otherwise known as Bruce – kept trudging forward, and was always blown backwards by the wind. He was small, but as the leader of Sector Z, they all harbored a respect for him. However, they did seem annoyed by the fact that they got stuck in the most _impossible _situations ever because of him.

Actually, it was because of him that they were now on the hunt for the Ice Queen – a tyrant queen living near the Arctic, who commanded children to build her the most magnificent ice castle ever without even providing them a source of warmth as they worked, their shoulders covered only by a thin jacket. Their only warmth was within the castle at night, where she provided a fire to keep them alive through the night.

"Oh crud." Bruce tumbled backwards and fell into the snowdrift, leaving a big hole. David paused in front of the hole, staring down at his leader. The short boy struggled to pull himself back up, when David reached in and lifted him out without so much as an effort. "Thanks, David."

David smiled and said nothing. He normally didn't say much; his actions conveyed everything. So far, all the Supreme Leader had ever gotten out of him were the words "What's the plan?" and "Reporting for duty." Oh, and a bunch of battle cries and screams of terror. But that rarely happened.

Behind them, the rest of Sector Z trudged over, the strain of walking in deep snow evident on their faces. Numbuh 0.3 – Ashley – huffed, adjusting her colander helmet and tucking a strand of dirty blonde hair beneath her helmet. Numbuh 0.4 – Lenny – was assisting Numbuh 0.5 – Olivia, or Ogie – in keeping back her messy pigtails, which were whipping all over the place.

"Agh, this hair is so unmanageable!" Ogie raged, cursing as she snapped the black band in place. At least this time her attempt at tying her hair was successful.

Lenny smiled weakly, tying up the other pigtail on his teammate's head. "Maybe it's just you. I think it's pretty manageable."

"You should talk." Ogie grumbled, adjusting her sunglasses. "You're the guy."

Bruce gestured to the distance. "Come on, guys. We're almost there! Lenny, stop fussing over your girlfriend's hair and get going!"

The two operatives turned bright red at the statement, turning away in embarrassment. It was pretty serious to call someone another's girlfriend and vice versa, but in Sector Z, it was meant as a joke most of the time. However, it was no secret that Lenny really liked the chubby operative.

"Ah!" Ashley toppled forward as a sudden elbow jab from Lenny hit her ribs. Lucky for her, David caught her at the last moment, like he always did. He fixed her into an upright position as she mumbled, "Thank you, Numbuh 0.2."

David only nodded in acknowledgement, though he did wonder why she never said his name. To Grandfather with the formalities, they weren't in battle just yet! So why wouldn't she say his name?

Not once did Ashley ever state his name in one sentence. Never, ever, whatsoever. It was always, "Change the channel, Numbuh 0.2" or "Come on, Numbuh 0.2!" or even "Can you tell Lenny someone called, Numbuh 0.2?" Heck, David figured that she must have forgotten his name or something to always call him by his codename.

Ogie adjusted her sunglasses again. No one really knew why Ogie loved wearing those sunglasses; that is, until that one time Lenny broke them. She then explained they doubled as her glasses, and that she had to get new ones now. The first time she came back, she looked ridiculous with pink sunglasses, so Lenny purposely smashed it. Quote the word _smashed. _He literally put the glasses on a table while Ogie was asleep and smashed it with his SPLANKER.

Lenny sighed. "Can't you get any clumsier, Ashley?"

"Well, sor-ree, Lenny!" There she was again! Using their real names, but not his! "I'm sorry that the snow is so deep and that a snowstorm's coming!"

… Wait, what?

Bruce looked up. "Oh crud, a freakin' snowstorm! Everybody, hold on to each other!" As he said so, he latched on to Lenny just as Ogie wrapped her arms around the brown-skinned operative. Lenny twisted his helmet into ninja mode so that they wouldn't see his blush.

David narrowed his eyes as the snowstorm began raging around them, the wind growing stronger as time passed. Unable to see, he grabbed around wildly for one of his teammates, when he felt a shoulder reach him. Relieved, he grabbed the person – I'll tell you now that it was Bruce – and clung to them, feeling two more people with him.

Finally, the snowstorm stopped, and everyone sighed in relief, separating. By now, Lenny was so red he rivaled a tomato in redness, while Ogie was just getting to that point. Bruce was also red, but his reason was because he was laughing at the two.

Wait, something was missing. David looked around, seeing nothing in the white snow, then it clicked.

"Ashley!"

* * *

**David's POV**

Oh Zero, where the hell did that girl go? I tugged at my collar in nervousness. Yeah, so what if I was worried for the girl who wouldn't even say my name? Wouldn't you be worried to if the girl you fell in lo- into this situation with was missing?

… OK, fine, I admit it.

I sort of like Ashley Sommers. She's nice, and pretty, and _smart. _For a _blonde. _Most of the blondes I know are as dumb as a post, and three-fourths of them aren't even _girls! _Sure, Ash was a dirty blonde, but a blonde's a blonde.

"Where could she have gone?" Ogie asked me worriedly, a worried look crossing her face.

I bit my lip. "She could've gone anywhere by now, or she might have been captured by the Ice Queen!"

"Oh crud." Lenny stated dryly. "Now what do we do now, O Mighty Bruce Uno?"

Bruce was, in fact, Father's son. Yes, you heard me. Our Sector leader was the son of the evilest villain we've ever encountered in our whole life! He was different from Father, at least, although I can swear that his hotheadedness is so Father-like that I shudder every time I think about it.

Bruce punched the snow. "We look for Ashley! We have to, or else the Supreme Leader will ask why!"

"…" Well, actually, I didn't hear that part because by that time, I was running. Away from them, away from my team. I was aimlessly running to who knows where, but there was a 50-50 chance that I would find Ashley on my run.

I could hear them calling me. "David! Hey, where are you going!" "David, come back!" "Dude, the heck?" But I didn't listen. I only pushed through the snow, and felt the wind of another snowstorm engulfing me. I didn't care by now. However, I _did _see a limp body in the snow a bit far away from me. The dirty blonde hair was unmistakeable.

Ashley!

* * *

**Third Person POV**

David regained his senses as he pushed wildly through the snow. He had to reach Ashley!

The brunette growled as snow hit him square in the face. He wiped it off with his sleeve while continuing to dig his way to the limp body. Finally, he stopped directly in front of the limp Numbuh 0.3, who looked pale enough to be a blonde version of Snow White.

David's breath caught in his throat. "Ashley…" He quickly recovered before he laid a hand against her cheek. Cold as ice.

_Well… here goes nothing. _David, with his numb fingers, reached under Ashley's limp body, getting a firm grip on her. Then, he lifted her up quite easily, bridal style. Her head lolled around, her helmet clinging tightly to her hair. _Just like a doll._

_A dead little porcelain doll._

The boy gulped, brushing away a few stray strands of hair from his teammate's face. Ashley was deathly pale, her lips blue from the cold. From the looks of it, she collapsed from either the cold or was knocked out cold.

"Oh man…" David looked around wildly for any sign of Bruce, Ogie or Lenny. His breath came out in wisps as he stomped his way through the snow. He could feel Ashley growing limper as the minutes passed, and for a moment he thought that Ashley would die, which wasn't impossible.

Somewhere in the distance, he spotted a cave, carved within a nearby glacier-mountain thingy. Delighted, he headed towards it, only just barely missing the arriving snowstorm caused by a battle between the remaining Sector Z and the Ice Queen.

* * *

-A few minutes later-

* * *

_Crackle… crackle…_

David leaned forward, blowing at the small flicker. Soon, the surrounding firewood burst into flames, which provided a small source of heat and light for the two Sector Z operatives. Ashley was still unconscious, but at least the color had returned to her face.

The boy leaned backward, flinching slightly as his back made contact with the frost-coated wall. It was still freezing cold, but David didn't dare venture out into the raging snowstorm outside, so instead he chose to sit by the makeshift fire, with Ashley slumped against the wall, a worried expression on her unconscious face. Her helmet was sitting by her right, with David's beret hanging on one of the horns.

_I hope Ashley wakes up soon… _David thought, prodding the fire with a stick. _I don't want to carry her around like a girl dragging along a doll…. _At that thought, he shook his head. _Not that I'll be dragging Ashley along…_

Suddenly, he felt Ashley shift beside him. He perked up and checked; she looked a bit more content this time, as if she was having a good dream. Relieved, he laid back once more, only to feel something snaking around his waist. Alarmed, he looked down, and saw Ashley wrapping her arms around him, nuzzling into his shoulder.

His face showed three different emotions at once. Surprise, wonder, and embarrassment. They all joined together to form a blushing David, who squirmed under Ashley's embrace. However, she had an iron grip, squeezing him tighter, so he gave up, and let her.

"… Nngh… David…" Ashley muttered into his sleeve, unconsciously nuzzling the boy's shoulder.

David blinked before he felt his ears grow hot. _My name! She said my name!_

It was a miracle, really. Heck, he didn't care if it was a dream. Ashley. Said. His. Name. _His. Name. _It was a surprise, but a welcome surprise.

The blonde operative mumbled something into his sleeve, making him lean closer, straining his ears to listen. From what he picked up, she was confessing something to someone in her dream.

"… David…" Yes! She said his name again! "… love… you…"

If he was tomato red a while ago, he was now a combination of scarlet, crimson, and all those other shades of red. He couldn't believe it; Ashley was confessing to Dream David that she _loved _him! It was too much to bear for the boy, who was jumping around in joy in his mind's eye. Well, she might have been admitting that she liked someone else, but hey, David wasn't one for details.

The sleeping girl was oblivious to it all, however, as she tucked her legs underneath her and sighed into the boy's sleeve, falling silent once more. David initially felt disappointed that he wouldn't hear any more out of her, but then forgot about it once the fire died out.

He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Then he poked the wood with his stick. Nothing. He sighed, leaning backwards again, and falling asleep.

He never felt himself shifting to welcome the sleeping Ashley into his arms.

* * *

Someone was calling her name.

Ashley shifted, groaning a bit. Her whole body felt numb from the biting cold of wherever she was (hey, she didn't know she was in a cave). However, she did feel some warmth from something in front of her, so on instinct, she hugged it closer to her, basking in the somewhat relieving warmth.

Somewhere, Ashley heard drums pounding. If she had been awake to describe it at that moment, she would have said that the tighter she hugged that something, the faster the drums pounded. However, she didn't care where the drums came from; the warmth was comforting, and that was all she cared about.

She felt that something trying to pry her off. Slightly annoyed, she tightened her embrace into something of a vice grip. However, she was still being pried off, so she reached up, her fingers locking onto the nearest thing she could get a hold of.

Unfortunately, it was a lock of hair.

Someone yelped in pain, making Ashley stir a bit more, letting go of the lock. She felt her pillow sigh in relie- hey, wait a minute, pillows don't sigh in relief!

Half-asleep and curious, Ashley took a hold of the hair once again, only this time tracing it to its source. Fingers lazily traced the smooth and soft surface, which made Ashley shiver quite slightly as she wondered what exactly was she touching.

A hand clasped hers, making her gasp slightly. The touch was so eerily familiar, so welcome, that she… she didn't dare think it was who she thought it was.

Chocolate brown eyes fluttered open to meet a pair of handsome emerald green ones. Ashley felt the heat rise to her cheeks, and she knew she must have put a tomato to shame somewhere.

David stared back at her, his cheeks tinged with red as well. He averted his gaze so as not to blush further, when he suddenly remembered his hand was still holding Ashley's. Embarrassed, he slowly let it drop to Ashley's side.

Ashley now knew what she was lying down on. It was David's chest. And that hammering… her blush flared up more as she realized it wasn't a drum after all. It was David's heart pounding.

"Uh…" He spoke up first, somewhat avoiding her gaze. However, Ashley could tell he was fighting between looking at her directly in the eye and avoiding her gaze to keep from blushing further. "You… collapsed in the snow… and I… found you and… brought you here…"

_Collapsed in the snow? _Ashley wondered. And then, wondrous recall. _Oh yeah. I got ambushed by one of Ice Queen's snow minions. They almost knocked me out cold… then I THINK I fell because I couldn't take any more._

Ashley bit her lip. "… Thanks, Nu- D-david." If it was even remotely possible, she felt like she had dived directly into the sun.

"… You're welcome." David murmured, a hint of delight in his voice at the mention of his name. Ashley shifted so that her head was only resting on David's shoulder, making the boy sigh in both relief and disappointment.

Heh, he might have regretted that disappointment sigh.

"Did I just miss something, Numbuhs 0.2 and 0.3?" A different voice. David and Ashley groaned. Bruce.

Which means…

"ASHLEEEEY! YOU TWO LOOK SO SWEET TOGETHER! Lenny, how come you can't do that to me?"

"Dave, my man! What happened? And Ogie, I swear, we can't do that in public, the Supreme Leader'll kill us!"

Everyone else was here too.

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**The End!**

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**HAHAHA corniness from the one and only TigerStripe / Numbuh 6.13 :P  
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